KINGSVILLE, Texas — For the fourth time this season, the St. Mary's University Softball team split a doubleheader in Lone Star Conference play, winning game one, 3-1, while Texas A&M-Kingsville won game two, 9-7.
The Rattlers are now 19-16 overall and 14-10 in league play and hold a one-game lead over the Javelinas, who are now 18-17 on the season and 13-11 in conference action.
St. Mary's returns home for six-straight at The Park, beginning with top-ranked UT Tyler on March 28 at 3 p.m. The Patriots swept Oklahoma Christian on Sunday afternoon.
GAME ONE RECAP
The first game of the doubleheader was a pitcher's duel with no hits until the third inning, and neither team broke onto the scoreboard until the sixth when the Rattlers scored a pair and went on to win 3-1.
Senior
Lauren Gonzales (San Antonio) was 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored, while junior
Emily Ayala (San Antonio) helped her own cause in the circle, driving in two runs with a pair of sacrifice flies. Seven of the nine in the starting batting order recorded at least one hit, while senior
Jadyn Abrego (San Antonio) and junior
Abigail Dela Rosa (La Grange, Texas) also scored a run.
Ayala improved to 7-1 on the year after surrendering one run on five hits with four walks and one strikeout, and junior
Ariella Saenz (Pharr, Texas) picked up her second save of the year with a scoreless seventh inning. She struck out one and gave up one hit.
GAME TWO RECAP
The nightcap was completely the opposite of game one, as the two teams combined for 16 runs on 23 hits, as the Javelinas pulled out a 9-7 come-from-behind win.
Saenz got the call to start game two for the Rattlers after pitching only one inning in the first game. She gave up three earned runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts in three innings. Freshman
Madison Mikes (Hallettsville, Texas) dropped to 1-1 on the season after allowing four runs on four hits with three walks. Abrego and senior
Madeline Bloom (Poway, Calif.) worked the final 1 2/3 innings.
Eight of the nine Rattlers in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit with the top three in the order: junior Reagan Tennill (Corpus Christi, Texas), Gonzales, and Ayala, all collecting two. Ayala drove in another three runs while Tennill and Gonzales each scored twice.
Both teams stranded nine runners on base in a game that took over two-and-a-half hours to complete.
